Chapter 19

“Can I really kiss you?”

Her long lashes trembled violently, and Jiang Chao’s mind rippled like a lake brushed by wind. Her fingertips braced against the sharp edge, the pain real, but what truly pulled her reason back was the low murmur right beside her ear.

She didn’t know when she had closed her eyes. Coming back to herself in a rush, Jiang Chao only saw a pair of eyes in front of her, flashing with teasing amusement, the corners curving slightly.

And the kiss she had imagined would fall without regard for her wishes had quietly turned into a fingertip; warm and soft, it pressed lightly against her lips.

Her eyes flickered. Jiang Chao lifted her gaze and met Sheng Huaixi’s deep, unreadable eyes. When those eyes looked at her, the stillness that had seemed sealed away shifted out of place, and a dark emotion flashed through.

Reluctance? Or struggle? Jiang Chao couldn’t tell.

The pressure on her lips slowly deepened. Jiang Chao looked at Sheng Huaixi’s eyes, the corners beneath them curving as her breathtaking features took on a trace of dangerous gentleness.

Sheng Huaixi asked again, “Can I really kiss you, Jiang Chao?”

At those words, Jiang Chao’s gaze dropped in a hurry, and she happened to see that fragile white line of her throat.

A pale, cold neck; blue veins coiled upward beneath the skin. Under Jiang Chao’s stare, it bobbed once, as if swallowing down all her desire and craving.

That Adam’s apple moved slowly, as though it were painfully forcing down the longing in her heart, bearing the ache of restraint; her desire to kiss Jiang Chao.

And the question she had asked might, in the very next second, become the key that opened Sheng Huaixi’s restless thoughts.

“No.” Jiang Chao’s pupils contracted sharply. She immediately pressed her lips together, her heartbeat thrown into chaos, pounding in her ears like the heaviest drum.

The warm fingertip that had first seemed gentle was pushed away without mercy.

After refusing her, Jiang Chao’s body couldn’t help but flinch and tremble under the weight of Sheng Huaixi’s gaze.

Instinctively, Jiang Chao avoided Sheng Huaixi’s eyes. Even though the look on her now wasn’t exactly sharp, only a quiet, faint stare, Jiang Chao still felt inexplicably guilty.

She didn’t know if it was because she had seen through Sheng Huaixi’s deliberate act, or because of Sheng Huaixi’s earlier accusation, or even because of the pair kissing around the corner.

Her emotions were as tangled as a ball of yarn, and Sheng Huaixi had no qualms about ripping them apart in the roughest way.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jiang Chao saw the hand that had held her wrist reach back again, brushing past her loose hair and leaving a slight itch in its wake.

Sheng Huaixi said nothing. Jiang Chao didn’t dare ask first either.

The sway of a shirt shimmered before her eyes; Sheng Huaixi’s movements were always elegant, even now, as her palm gradually slid across Jiang Chao’s shoulder and collarbone.

The warmth of her hand drew nearer little by little. Jiang Chao kept her eyes lowered, feeling Sheng Huaixi’s body heat and scent invade her space.

At last, that hand stopped at her neck. Fingers spread, they curled around her like vines and, in a posture that brooked no refusal, lifted her chin. Jiang Chao looked up in a sorry state—

And a low voice sounded by her ear. “Look at me.”

The kissing sounds around the corner suddenly deepened; an ear-splitting sucking noise brazenly filled the space.

Jiang Chao’s heart was instantly clutched tight. The sounds that had crowded her ears dissolved into a buzz, and in her panic she could only obey the order and stand frozen in place.

Standing there, like someone holding down a volcano on the verge of eruption.

That was what Sheng Huaixi looked like to Jiang Chao.

The emotions in her eyes shifted between deep and shallow; black mist slowly unfurled, like the calmest lake in the world, yet the dark undertones spreading through it completely extinguished that calm.

Her neck was forced back harder, overbearing and domineering. Jiang Chao’s scattered thoughts snapped back at once. She met Sheng Huaixi’s gaze and caught the faint flicker there; she was displeased that Jiang Chao was still distracted at a time like this.

“Jiang Chao, what did I tell you on your first day at the company?”

What had she told her on her first day at the company?

Thoughts racing, Jiang Chao tried hard to recall that first day at work. It had been an especially complicated day, one that had shaken her view of the world.

Sheng Huaixi had said a lot to her that day. Was there something she needed to remember now? Jiang Chao was suspicious, but had no clue.

Her lips pressed together in confusion. Her chin was pinched hard once more, and when Jiang Chao lifted her eyes, Sheng Huaixi gave her the answer.

“Behave yourself at the company.”

Memories rushed back. In a daze, Jiang Chao saw Sheng Huaixi bend down again.

As that rich fragrance swept over her, Jiang Chao saw the gentleness on Sheng Huaixi’s face. She spoke softly, adding, “Listen to me.”

The words left unfinished on the day she joined the company were spoken in full at this moment.

There were only four more words, yet they landed like a heavy blow to Jiang Chao’s heart.

Jiang Chao stiffened completely. Looking at the faint possessiveness seeping through Sheng Huaixi’s words and expression, her fingertips began to tremble uncontrollably.

At that instant, a bold thought suddenly surfaced in her mind—

Had Sheng Huaixi set her sights on her from the day she joined the company?

Why? What did she want?

Her emotions were in disarray, and the buzzing in her ears made it impossible for Jiang Chao to think clearly. The wrist she had been bracing with seemed to go slack and drop. She stood frozen in place.

No matter how many times Jiang Chao ran it through in her mind, she couldn’t find a reason for Sheng Huaixi to do this.

The idea that Sheng Huaixi had taken an interest in her on the day she joined the company was something Jiang Chao could only rate as zero possibility.

Her thoughts were a tangled mess, so chaotic they made her dizzy. Sheng Huaixi’s soft voice sounded again beside her ear.

“Then can you tell me now? What have I done recently to make you treat me this badly?”

Blinking in confusion, Jiang Chao actually began to wonder whether her expression control was really that good; Sheng Huaixi was able to ignore the disorder on her face and ask her that.

Even Jiang Chao herself couldn’t help thinking: had she really been that awful to Sheng Huaixi lately?

“Hm?” A knuckle pressed beneath her chin, urging her on, and the pressure increased slightly.

Should she say it?

In her hesitation, Jiang Chao met Sheng Huaixi’s face. Those too-beautiful features leaned down toward her a little, the pressure immense, fingertips pressing now and then as they pleased.

Her words and actions left no room for her to lie.

And Jiang Chao didn’t want to lie to her.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Chao looked steadily at Sheng Huaixi and said, “I found your phone under my bed; it was the day you moved in.”

The hand at her chin stilled. Jiang Chao watched intently, unwilling to miss a single change in Sheng Huaixi’s expression.

Would she panic? Any normal person would panic, right?

That thought had just crossed Jiang Chao’s mind when another voice quietly reminded her that Sheng Huaixi would never show such an expression.

As expected, Sheng Huaixi was smiling. Her smile was especially pleased, even a little unrestrained.

“You..."

“What, so there really was someone in here.”

Jiang Chao’s question was cut off by the girl around the corner.

Her eyes flew up. Only then did Jiang Chao remember that there really had been two women kissing around the corner just now!

She had completely forgotten about it!

The girl glanced inside, her face still flushed from kissing, and walked in without a care. Tilting her head, she smiled and asked, “What a coincidence. Secretly fooling around in the bathroom together?”

Fooling around?!

Jiang Chao came back to herself and looked at the posture between herself and Sheng Huaixi. Their bodies were pressed close, the scene inevitably intimate; Sheng Huaixi’s fingertips were still on her chin even now.

Her feet shifted. Jiang Chao decisively waved a hand, instantly slipping out from between Sheng Huaixi and herself. Not daring to look at the girl’s amused expression, she tossed out a quick, “We’ll talk when we get back,” and left at once.

Only Sheng Huaixi remained, casually straightening her shirt, completely unfazed.

The girl clicked her tongue. Seeing that expression, she knew she wasn’t getting any advantage here and turned to leave as well.

In the empty space, Sheng Huaixi’s shadow was stretched long across the floor by the light. She stood there quietly for a long time, looking at herself in the mirror.

Then, all at once, she pressed the fingertip that had just been on Jiang Chao’s lips against her own.

A light touch; gentle and slow. A thick, entranced look flashed through Sheng Huaixi’s eyes, and her eyes narrowed in satisfaction.

After standing there a little longer, Sheng Huaixi took out her phone, swiping across the screen a few times before finally opening the chat page with Zhou Xu.

- Zhuxuan Restaurant.

After sending the address, Sheng Huaixi closed the phone without hesitation and lifted her gaze to the mirror.

The woman in the mirror was beautiful enough, with a face that inspired affection, pleasing in every way except for one pair of eyes.

At this moment, the madness soaking the depths of those eyes painted that beauty in an entirely different light.

Sheng Huaixi stared for a long time until the corner of her lips suddenly lifted, dangerous and brilliant.

Since she had already found the phone, how about adding a little more fuel to the fire for Jiang Chao.

Chaochao, don’t be afraid of me...